


In Cahoots

by colavaria



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Couch Cuddles, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Movie Night, Protective Bucky Barnes, Romantic Friendship, an annoying armrest, being close to bucky barnes, horror movies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2017-11-03
Packaged: 2019-01-29 03:12:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12621860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colavaria/pseuds/colavaria
Summary: When movie night features horror, your least favourite genre, it leads to a discovery about Bucky’s feelings.





	In Cahoots

“Y/N." 

"Mm,” you hummed.

"Is that a yes?”

Your fingers froze over the battery you were repairing down in Tony’s lab. The wires inside of it were communicating by sparks happily, unlike the nerves in your brain. 

A yes to what? Better find out. Better pretend like you know.  Better not let Wanda know you had no clue what day it was, never mind the meaning behind her question.

“Yes?”

"You sound confused.” 

“I’m sure!” you said, unsure. “Yes. Yes to…that thing we’re doing.” 

Wanda stood across your desk, expertly twirling a pencil in her long fingers. “You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” 

“None at all,” you admitted, slowly reaching for a screwdriver to continue working with your head down. She pocketed the pencil and gently removed the contraption from your hands to place it on your desk. 

“I’m impressed about how you can nod in all the right places–I went on for ten minutes about my new paprikash recipe. Come, we’re going upstairs.” She gestured for you to follow her to the elevator. “It’s movie night.”  

You grabbed your blue sweater from the back of your chair and pulled it on as Wanda pressed the up button and you both stepped in. 

“Why didn’t FRIDAY call me?” 

“She did, sweetie, you just get so absorbed in your work…to be honest you probably wouldn’t notice if Hulk rampaged through the lab. Sam was here earlier to remind you about tonight and he said the same thing.”

“Sam came? I don’t remember.”  

But you did hear a noise around the time you successfully connected the red and blue wires…maybe that was him instead of the faulty air conditioner you had thought. Well, there’s one thing off your repair list. 

Wanda pressed the floor number for the common room, laughing her melodic laugh. “He did, with Hulk hands and a mask. Bruce was impressed by his doppelgänger and gave Sam some pots to bang but you just nodded along to the beat.”

“Oh.” She wasn’t kidding about the distraction thing, then. You checked your phone for anything else you might have missed. A couple social media notifications and a text from Bucky, time stamped an hour ago.

_are you coming to the movie night?_

You smiled to yourself at his message, which got you a playful nudge from Wanda.  “Who’s making you smile, Y/N?”

_yeah, Wanda and I are in the elevator :)_

You pressed send then slipped your phone in your pocket. “Just Bucky.”

“Just Bucky, huh?” she said with a curious arch of her brow.  “He doesn’t seem like  _just Bucky_  when he makes you smile like that from one text.”

“Wanda…” you warned tiredly, seeing her knowing grin form. “Where are you going with this?”

“I think you already know.”

“I think I do, and you shouldn’t.” Your friend had brought up this topic in the past, especially whenever you and Bucky caught eyes across the table, or when you walked to your rooms after a workout, innocently  ~~flirting~~  talking the whole way.

“C’mon, Y/N.  You can’t deny it, you’re into Bucky. And he’s so into you.”

“I am, Wan, but I don’t want to assume anything on his side.”

Wanda winked and turned to face forward. “I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough.”

“Who knows…” You had to change the conversation topic.  Letting yourself think that Bucky was interested in you was veering into dangerous territory and you didn’t want to get your hopes up high in case Wanda’s hunch was wrong.  "What are we watching anyway?“

"Tonight’s Tony’s pick, and he said something about watching two movies? He was deciding when I came down to find you so I’m not sure.”

"I hope they’re good. I fell asleep last time Vision chose that coin documentary.” 

“Yeah…I’ve told him he needs to watch those on his own time.”

The doors opened and you followed Wanda into the common room, calling hello to everyone. Tony must’ve eaten too much sugar today. He mimicked a hummingbird drunk on nectar by whizzing around the room taking everyone’s drink order as they settled into the couches and Lay-Z Boy recliners, chatting. 

To Wanda’s delight, your eyes barely acknowledged the rest of the team in favour of searching for their favourite subject, and you felt your heart speed up when Bucky immediately put his phone away to greet you.  

He looked good – too good for a casual movie night, with his hair loose and tucked behind his ears.  The hood of his sweater was bunched up against his neck and the seat and when he raised an arm to adjust it, simultaneously flashing you that sunshine smile and saying “Hey darlin’”, it was all you could do to ignore the swooping feeling in your stomach.

Yeah, you had it  _bad_  for him.

“Hi Bucky,” you said, perching on the arm of his chair. Being late meant you had to be creative with where you sat. “How’s it going?”

“Not bad, can’t complain. Ready for movies?” Bucky asked, shifting to face you better.

“Only always,” you said, still wondering which ones Tony had chosen. He usually liked action. 

You both poked your head to see what was teetering in bowls on the end tables: chips, dip, pretzels, and every candy ever invented. “Looks like we’ve got enough to feed the Hulk.”

“Yeah, but we’re missing the most important thing. I’ll go make popcorn,” Bucky offered, unfolding himself from the recliner and swiping an empty bowl on his way to the kitchen.

It wasn’t flirting, you told Wanda, when you curled up in Bucky’s empty recliner. You throwing a fuzzy blanket over yourself so he wouldn’t notice was a bonus. If you can’t see him he can’t see you, right?  

“I see an invader.”

Shoot. His eyes work. “Like my mom used to say: he who leaves the village loses his chair.” 

“Can’t argue with that.” His casual voice sounded closer and you stayed still in case he decided to pick you up. Alas, he only smoothly pulled the blanket off to reveal your guilty look. “But I will ask nicely.”  

"You know.” Wanda leaned over the edge of the couch and said in an exaggerated whisper, “The recliner could fit you both.”  She tilted her head in an ‘off you go’ movement, and you wondered why it was more directed at Bucky than at you.

Your eyes flicked to the man in question, who was still leaning on both of the armrests looking–dare you say–hopeful.

This was usually his chair on movie nights, and as you weren’t quite sure where he stood on the whole personal space matter with regards to you, the decision to sit together was completely up to him. 

He nodded and pushed himself up. By turning to your side there was enough room for Bucky to lower himself beside you. But it was awkward, so awkward, how your backs pressed up against each other while the armrests, covered with cloth, caged your stomach in painfully.  

There must be another way. Lay-Z Boys are designed to be comfortable.

“Hold on–” you groaned as the armrest dug into your ribs. You pulled yourself up onto it, ignoring the notion that the entire team was watching you, because you were probably being paranoid.  They were still talking and waiting for Bruce to come back from the bathroom.

Bucky was though, watching you. More questions than you could count painted his handsome face and curiosity was in all of them.

To readjust you flipped to your right side and slid your arm into the pocket behind his back, so now you had to lean into his side, with your head on his shoulder and your knees tucked under you.

For a minute, when he didn’t react, you wondered whether Bucky was changing his mind. If he really wanted to share with you.  If he was at all comfortable. A ‘no’ to either of those statements meant this arrangement wouldn’t work; in that case you were more than ready to go to another spot since his comfort was your number one priority.

“Is this okay?” you asked quietly, looking up.

“Yeah.” He nodded as he ran his fingers through his hair and you resisted the urge to reach up and fix a rogue strand. “Yeah, this is okay.”

Bucky shuffled his limbs a bit, tilting his shoulder to give you better access to lean on him and not his metal arm, and he pulled the lever on the side of the chair to bring up the footrest, which he promptly propped his feet on. You both leaned back to make the recliner, well, recline.

“Everyone’s good? Yeah? Perfect. Let’s get the scare-a-thon started.” Tony clicked play and told FRIDAY to turn off the lights until the only sources were the TV and its reflection on the chip bags.

The opening sequence of  _Scream_  began to play and Bucky’s metal hand wound around your middle, surprisingly warm and finding the perfect place to rest on your side.  You exhaled shakily at the contact.

Wanda’s talk with you did nothing to ease the butterflies fluttering in your body. They were going nuts. Now all you could think was whether you were imagining his thumb brushing along your side or if he was doing it on purpose.

As much as you didn’t want him to move, Bucky’s knees were completely blocking your view so you tapped them, causing him to let out a muted “sorry” and lay them flat. To assure him it wasn’t anything to apologize about, you squeezed his side. You missed the sweet smile he gave you but you did feel him timidly rest his cheek on the crown of your head moments later. You hugged him again to say _that’s okay too_  and he relaxed, his body melting into yours as every muscle lost its tension.

* * *

The further along the movie went, the more you wished Tony had chosen another genre.  You loved him to death and back but his taste in films was questionable. Why would you consciously choose to watch something that won’t help you sleep at night? Especially when there were so many happier movies waiting in the Netflix queue?

Evidently feeling your distress, Bucky dipped his head that you could feel soft strands of hair brush against your forehead.  So as not to disturb the others, who were simultaneously engrossed and grossed out by the scenes on the screen, he spoke in a murmur.

“Scared?”

“Oh no, I love horror movies,” you mumbled into his chest, “This is just how I appreciate them.”

“Seems like you’re a huge fan.” You lifted your head to see him pursing his lips, like he was trying to bite back the smile that was already dancing in his eyes. Have you ever been close enough to see it before? You weren’t sure. Most of your pining had been at a distance greater than a few inches.

“Hey. I can be your shield when the bad stuff comes on, how about that.” Bucky slipped his fingers between yours and squeezed. You seriously thought your brain melted into mush because it took way too long to form a response. He looked patient, almost secretly proud that he had you speechless. 

“Thank you. Cause I’m not getting up to find Steve’s.”

The darkness was imperative to hiding the goofy grin that you were sure had tugged at your lips as you felt Bucky’s whole body laughing. It rumbled your own when another jump scare had you hiding in his sweater again.  

“I’ve got you, Y/N, don’t worry.”

You could feel his warm breath on your temple as he buried his into the top of your head. You could feel his cheek squished against you, and at a particularly loud part you swore he began to press gentle kisses in your hair.

Yeah, he wasn’t making this easy. It was getting harder and harder to deny his feelings for you when he let you curl up next to him like this.  

You had no help from your mind, which was going wild in thinking: _imagine if you could do this all the time._

FRIDAY turned the lights back on when the movie ended.

“You falling asleep on me, darlin’?” 

His voice was low and coated in innocent curiosity, somehow managing to balance out your current, very intimate, proximity. It was a voice only for you. 

“No…”

Lies. You were getting tired, and it didn’t help that his steady breaths were lulling you to sleep. Whoever said muscle wasn’t comfortable clearly had never met Bucky; he was all soft, and the maroon sweater he wore only increased his pillow status in your eyes. 

“Your eyes are closed.”  

“They’re resting. I need to forget all the horrible images I was subjected to, thanks to a certain Tony Stark!” You directed the last bit to Tony, who flashed you a thumbs up.

"You’re welcome, Y/N!”

You sighed and laid your head back onto Bucky’s shoulder to watch the Netflix autoplay count down for the next movie. That is, until you saw what was going to play next:  _Friday the 13th._

Oh, now you were awake. 

“No! No more horror!”  

Bucky let you go as you made to lunge for the remote but your hips got stuck between your seat mate and the infamous armrest. You only faltered for a second, but that was enough for Tony to swipe the remote out from under your grasp.

“Sorry, honey bunch. When it’s your turn to pick we can watch all the rom-coms you want. That night is not tonight, so enjoy Frosty the Snowman and munch some cookies.”  

“It’s not even Friday the 13th,” you huffed, more to yourself than anyone else. Plucking a chocolate bar from the pile, you leaned back into Bucky and and opened the wrapper. Chocolate wouldn’t leave crumbs and it was a chance to offer your seatmate something for all the help he was giving to you.

“Want some?”

“Yes please.”

“They’re over there,” you said cheekily, pointing to the table.

Bucky pulled away from you to stare in surprise. “Oh, is that how this is going to go?”

“Sure is.”

“No chocolate…hmm. I might have to resign my position as a shield then. “ With raised eyebrows he made to put down the footrest but you grabbed his arm from going so far. This was not part of the joke, he couldn’t leave when there was another horror movie.  

“Wait no. No, no, no. You have to stay.”

“Do I?”

“Yes. I need you.”

“Hiring me again will require payment in chocolate form.” He winked, and your butterflies exploded.

“Done,” you said quickly, handing him the entire chocolate bar and reaching for more. “Done and done. Take them all, just don’t leave.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Bucky assured you, collecting all the chocolates onto his chest then bringing you snug into his side again.

* * *

Man, you were probably giving him bruises by now.

It was halfway through this movie that you adopted your mantra. Mantras are used to calm down and boy, did  _‘ohnonononono’_  with a few expletives thrown in there do its job.

At another particularly loud scream from the protagonist – she should  _not_  have gone outside –  your well-trained reflexes took over. Your legs jumped into your chest and you squeezed Bucky as tight as your eyes did shut, tighter than would be comfortable. 

Still, he didn’t complain.

His non-verbal response was much appreciated: he gathered you closer into his chest while his right hand grabbed your legs and draped them over his own before adjusting a blanket to cover you both. Then the hand dipped below the blanket and rested his fingers in the crease of your top knee. They curled into your pants’ fabric, not tightly, but just enough to remind you he wasn’t going anywhere, while his thumb rubbed soothingly. Like a mantra.  

The awful help-I’m-fake-dying! screaming continued except you felt the sounds didn’t pierce your soul as much as they would have, had Bucky not been holding you close, and you him. Literally every one of your sensory nerves was firing because of Bucky and the personal bubble you two were in.

He was everywhere. Especially your forehead to his cheek. His hair brushing against your skin. His scent and murmured words comforting you. And his rapid heart beating almost as fast as your own.

You couldn’t see much, mostly darkness, but that darkness didn’t seem so dark with Bucky. As a shield, he was being it very well. Bucky was hugging you tightly, his arms muscled shields of vibranium, forcing the horrors away. 

“Tell me when it’s safe to look,” you whispered for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I will.”

After what Bucky deemed to be an appropriate and non-murderous part, you relaxed your death grip on his torso.  You’d be lying if you said the horror movie was the single contributing factor to your racing pulse as you sheepishly met his gorgeous eyes; they seemed to soften as they found the sight of you in his arms.

“I’m sorry if I give you bruises.” 

“’S'okay, I’ve gotten them in worse ways.”

“You sure?”

“Y/N, I’m alright,” he grinned, his amusement at your worry very clear.

You patted his chest. “Okay, I believe you. But I am starting to think you aren’t the biggest fan of horror movies either. I was feeling pretty squeezed.”

"Ahh, you caught me,” he admitted. “But I’m your shield, remember? I have to know what’s out there so I can keep you safe.” The hand that was holding your legs emerged to poke your nose.  

You wrinkled it, half playful, half reflex, because since when did your nose have enough nerves in it to make one touch feel like a million? To make each of those million shoot out to the rest of your body and rush it with electricity, not unlike the current you were trying to create with your battery downstairs? 

It was funny, really, that you were pressed up against Bucky in every single other way possible yet this was the one to debilitate your actions and steal your breath away. 

“Thank you, Bucky.”

“Anytime, Y/N.”  

Was it so crazy to hope for another time?

If your nose had nerves, Clint poking his into your bubble had you on your last one. Personal bubble is personal for a reason, despite the fact that yours and Bucky’s had merged to make a sort of Venn diagram. He was the only exception. 

“Hey cuddle buddies, movie’s over.”

It was as if Clint’s voice popped the bubble. Bucky cleared his throat, and you looked away, untangling yourself from the supersoldier’s grasp and sitting up.  

Bucky sat up too, and he started to lightly trace circles on your back while you leaned into him. This was definitely something you wanted to do all the time. 

Indeed the movie was over. The lights back were back on and your other teammates were beginning to stand up and stretch their limbs, some of them shooting quick glances at you and Bucky before directing their eyes elsewhere. Wanda didn’t; she kept watching you two with a trace of something you could only describe as pride in her faint smile.

“Never again,” you declared, shaking your head.  

“Aw, c’mon, you had a good night. ” Bucky poked at your side as he got to his feet. You did.

“Yeah, I suppose it wasn’t too bad,” you said, “I’m going to bed before Netflix plays another one, though.” 

“Fair,” Wanda laughed.  “Bucky, why don’t you walk Y/N to her room?” 

He took your hand and pulled you up. “I was just about to.” 

The walk was quiet. Unlike your mind.  “Bucky, can I ask you something?” 

“Shoot.” 

“Why do I get the feeling that you and Wanda planned something tonight?”

He chuckled as you came to your door. “That’s because we did. I, uh, may have asked Wanda for some help getting closer to you. We figured you might hop in my seat if I left it and that’s exactly what you did.”

You groaned. “You guys know me too well.” 

“The plan worked, I think.”

“It did.”

“Tony’s choices just happened to make us very close.”

You eyed him. “He was in on it too?”

“Yeah. He likes action and horror, apparently.” Bucky smiled, and you held glorious eye contact. After a while you glanced reluctantly at your door.  “I should, ah, head to bed.”

“Okay. Goodnight, Y/N.” 

“Goodnight, Bucky. “ Before you could think twice about it, you lifted onto your toes and pressed a kiss to his stubbled cheek.  “Thank you again.” 

“We could do it again sometime?” Bucky asked, hands tucked in pockets and biting back a hopeful grin.

“Definitely.” 

Wanda’s always right, you thought, watching him go with an stupidly huge grin of your own.

* * *

Later, you were in bed. 

But were you sleeping? Nope. Not a wink. 

You tossed and turned for a while, trying to push the intrusive thoughts about the movies out of your mind. It sucked that you had been about to fall asleep earlier but now you found you couldn’t.

Bucky. If you were relaxed with him during a horror movie of all things, perhaps he could help now. 

Unplugging your phone from its charger, you rolled to the other side of the bed and opened Bucky’s text thread. Your thumbs did a little dance over the keyboard before typing and sending:

_You’re comfortable :)_

Bucky responded quickly.

_So are you :)_

**Author's Note:**

> Bucky would be the PERFECT person to watch horror movies with, in my opinion. me, personally, i'm not the hugest fan of horror so this was my way of dealing with halloween festivities. I hope you enjoyed!


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